Mission Logs
by Chief Phoenix
Summary: After the defeat of the Goa'uld, Replicators, Ori, and finally the Wraith a year of relative peace passes for the men and women of Stargate Command but can that peace last long?


Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate or its characters. I do however own all seemingly original characters. If they seem original then they probably are.

P3X-199

Milky Way Galaxy

March 13, 2010 Earth Calendar

Captain Brad Phoenix, United States Marine Corp, emerged from the shimmering blue puddle that was the event horizon and onto the smooth rocky base of the Stargate. By the time he was down the stone steps the rest of his four man all Marine Corp team were through the event horizon. The wormhole shut behind them and left them alone on the alien world.

Captain Phoenix was a ten year veteran having commanded two different rifle companies in Iraq before he was recognized for his leadership and given commanded of a Stargate team. His team, SG-24, was the first "heavy recon" team. After the defeat of the Ori and the Wraith and a year of relative calm the SGC decided to do a little experimenting in team make up. Designed to stay in the field longer and conduct more thorough reconnaissance it was the SGC's hope to be better equipped to meet future enemies.

The second man through the Stargate was First Lieutenant Scott Andrews. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy with a degree in physics Andrews was easily the smartest man on the team. His laid back attitude was the only thing that kept the "smart Marine" jokes at bay. Andrews had served a tour in Iraq as one of Captain Phoenix's platoon leaders, and had been personally requested by the Captain.

The senior enlisted man on team, Gunnery Sergeant Patrick Mulcahy, was the oldest man on the team at thirty-five. Another veteran of Iraq he had served two tours at the beginning of the war, and had volunteered for a third. His third tour landed him in the same battalion as the Captain, and as such had been hand picked for his refusal to give up. The Captain didn't like talking about it much but the real reason behind his decision was that the Gunnery Sergeant liked fighting and war. The unwritten rule was, even in the Marine Corp, no one liked war but the truth was that some men were born to kill and Gunnery Sergeant Mulcahy was one of these men.

The youngest man on the team, Sergeant James Tyler, had work EOD duty in both Afghanistan and Iraq and was an explosives genius. Tyler claimed to be able to carve a city out of a mountain as long as he had enough explosives. The youngest man on the team this was only his third time through the gate.

The Stargate on this planet was situated on cliff overlooking miles and miles of tropical beaches in each direction. The cliff gently sloped down into the fields below and from there the beaches. Palm trees along the coast threw shadows that danced on the white sands of the beaches.

"What are the chances of this happening?" Tyler asked shifting the pack he was carrying. Tyler as the new guy was the unofficial mule of the team. In addition to having to carry his Squad Automatic Weapon and ammunition he also had to carry the team's emergency gear.

"You mean an all Marine team getting to inspect a beach on a foreign planet?" Andrews responded.

"You guys may not realize this but I'm a walking lucky charm," Mulcahy said jumping into the conversation, "it's the luck o' the Irish."

"Yeah well let's hope your luck holds my Irish friend," the Captain responded. He was rotating back and forth between beaches trying to figure out which one would be best to scout first.

Lieutenant Andrews was rummaging through the gear that had been strapped to the F.R.E.D. to see if the SGC had packed any goodies. He came across a black MIL-SPEC container and opened it. Inside was a M32 Multiple Grenade Launcher (MGL). He whistled and found a piece of paper inside.

"Skipper look what I found," he said holding the MGL up, "and there's a note inside. Let's see here: If you meet the enemy in combat tell them sons of bitches I said hello. It's signed by the Colonel."

Brad couldn't help but laugh out loud. Colonel Thomas Baker, the liaison between the Marine Corp and the SGC, had been denied on several occasions to be placed on off world status because of medical reasons. His answer to this was sneaking his Marines "new toys" every now and then. The MGL held six 40mm HE grenades and could be emptied in less than two seconds.

"I hate to ruin Christmas morning gentlemen but we have a planet to explore. That village the UAV found should be a couple clicks down that way. Looks like we get what we always wanted: our own beach on our own planet," Brad said scanning the horizon. The salt from the ocean below was heavy in the blowing breeze. Brad had grown up along the beaches of South Carolina and never stopped missing it.

The four man SG team started down the gentle slope of the cliff and onto the white sandy beaches. Palm trees on their left swayed in the breeze and kept the men in the cooling shadows they threw off. After an hour or so of trekking through the sand a thought stuck Sergeant Tyler.

"Sir, I have a question," he finally said. His curiosity in this matter could not be contained.

"Yes Sergeant?" Brad replied from the front of the diamond formation.

"How is it we get stuck walking?"

"Got something against walking Marine?" Brad asked turning around and continued to walk backwards. A grin had appeared on his face by this time knowing where this conversation was going.

"No sir. Just curious as to how we seem to get shafted in this matter. I mean look at the flyboys. They've got all sorts of cool toys. They've got space ships and can beam down like its fucking Star Trek, sir. They fly all over the galaxy, hell and not just this one, blowing shit up with lasers and missiles. We get stuck humping our gear around every where we go," he finished hoping he hadn't done anything stupid by opening his mouth.

Brad couldn't keep himself from laughing at what his young sergeant had just said. Andrews and Mulcahy had the biggest grins on their faces by this time too.

"Good to see some things never change right Sergeant Tyler?" Brad finally responded in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

"Yes, sir," Tyler answered back. He had gotten the answer he wanted.

"Now children," he said turning back around, "if that's all the questions for today there's a village somewhere that I'm sure is full of perfectly tanned tropical goddesses just waiting to meet the United States Marine Corp."

After another hour of trekking through the sand SG-24 came upon the first indications of civilization or what could pass for civilization here. The initial scan of the planet by UAV showed a few scattered villages roughly two kilometers apart. This one was the closest to the Stargate. Thermal imaging and showed about a hundred or so heat sources located within a hundred foot radius of the village.

"Alright gentlemen let's do this right," Brad said as they neared the path in the palm trees that the village used, "Keep your eyes open, mouths shut, and most importantly don't spook the locals."

When SG-24 was roughly a hundred feet from the path a group of five locals emerged from the path wearing nothing more than loincloths. Their skin was dark from constant hours spent in the sun.

"That is a very good sign," Gunnery Sergeant Mulcahy said turning to Sergeant Tyler and raising his eyebrow and nodding just a bit.

Brad could tell by the locals faces that they were at least used to seeing strangers which was a good sign, but it could also be a very bad sign. If the strangers they had seen before were attackers then SG-24 could very well be walking into a trap. The oldest stepped forward from the rest of the group and slowly waved his hand.

"That ladies and gentlemen is how you get blasted," First Lieutenant Andrews said just loud enough for the team to hear.

"Stow it back there," Brad interrupted as he slowly waved his gloved hand back, "well so far so good."

The hardest part of initial contact was the initial contact. SG teams had no way of knowing if the people they were meeting had been ravaged before by the Goa'uld or some empire from their own planet. The SG teams could never know if they were walking into an ambush or some other kind of trap.

"We come in peace," Brad said stopping but keeping his gun hand in the air, "we are peaceful explorers from Earth."

"You come through the Sacred Ring?" asked the elder.

"Shit," Brad said cursing to himself. Usually when the locals called them "Sacred Rings" it meant they had no idea what they were for much less how they used them.

"You know Sacred Ring?" the elder asked again.

"Yes, we know the Sacred Ring," Brad answered. By this time his team closed the distance between them and the locals.

"I am Turi and I am the village elder here," he said bowing to the members of SG-24.

"I am Captain Brad Phoenix, First Lieutenant Scott Andrews, Gunnery Sergeant Patrick Mulcahy, and Sergeant James Tyler," he said pointing to each of his men, "and we are from Earth. We use the Sacred Ring to travel to other worlds. We call it the Stargate."

"Star," he said pausing with a puzzled look on his face,"gate?"

"Yes. It goes by many names though. We come to see what our people have to offer each other."

"You trade?" Turi asked.

"When the need arises we can," Brad responded with a chuckle.

"Then this way," Turi said throwing his hands up in jubilation, "we prepare big feast for our new friends!"

After the men of SG-24 and the men of the village had traded, the men of the village got random bars of candy and SG-24 got handmade knives, they were treated to a giant feast. They ate all sorts of tropical fruit, berries, and something that tasted a lot like roasted pork. As the men were eating Turi brought out fifteen of his finest, most beautiful dancers he had. The women were dressed in nothing more than grass skirts. As they started moving to a beat provided by men on drums their skin began to glisten with sweat. Their tight, athletic bodies moved in perfect unison.

"Sir," Gunnery Sergeant Mulcahy said in a very serious tone as he leaned in from the left of Brad, "I would like to hand in my resignation at this time."

Captain Phoenix laughed as he took a drink of the sweet fruity liquid in his cup. A beeping sounded started playing from their neatly stacked gear. The Gunnery Sergeant knew exactly what it was and stepped away from the table. By this time Brad was trading stories with the village elder as the sun slowly set behind them. Gunnery Sergeant Mulcahy approached Brad with a wireless military phone. It sent a signal to a receiver in his pack that allowed for further communication from the Stargate. It reduced the need to hump back to the Stargate and check in.

"Sir," he said handing the phone to the Captain, "it's General Landry."

Brad excused himself and took the phone to the perimeter of the village, "Yes, sir?"

"Captain I'd rather not discuss this through the gate. The _General Hammond _will be in-system within the hour. Get your men as far away from that village as you can and they'll beam you up. Colonel Carter will brief you at that point. I'm sorry Captain that I have to make this conversation short, but we are working with limited time."

"Understood General. We'll be ready," Brad said in automatic response.

"Very good. Landry out," and the line went dead as the Stargate closed and broke the connection.

"Gunny," Brad said calling the senior enlisted man over, "get the gear together. We're leaving as soon as we can. The _Hammond_ will be in-system within an hour and we don't want the locals seeing us leave."

The Gunnery Sergeant nodded in response and set out to tell the others and get their gear ready to go. Brad went back over to the village elder to tell them that they were leaving. Turi looked somewhat insulted, but Brad explained to him that this wasn't the end and that they would probably be back again sometime again to trade.

"Let's go gentlemen," Brad said as he slung his G36C rifle. He mentioned for SG-24 to move out in the direction of the Stargate. He stayed behind for an extra minute or so as he attempted once more to soothe the village elder's feelings.

"What's the deal Skipper?" Andrews asked after Brad had caught up.

"No clue but we'll find out soon enough."

The team marched towards the Stargate in silence. Brad kept checking his watch. By the time they had been marching for nearly forty-five minutes the village had long disappeared from sight. Soon the time left on the countdown on Brad's watch reached ten seconds.

_9…8…7…_

"Sergeant Tyler,' Brad said as he turned around and caused the team to stop suddenly.

_6…5…4…_

"Yes, sir?" he asked startled.

_3...2...1..._

"Watch this shit," Brad said as the time on his watch hit zero. SG-24 was bathed in a brilliant bright light and disappeared from the surface of P3X-199.


End file.
